3.1.2 Free Will & Determinism

• Free Will = The ability to make choices and decisions without being controlled by deterministic forces.
• Topics for Free Will

  • Humanistic Approach
• Humanistic Approach (Free Will)

  • Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs = self-actualisation & personal growth
  • Client-centred/Rogerian Therapy = client exerts control over therapy compared to Freudian therapy
• Determinism = behaviour is controlled by determinisitc influences beyond our control
• Hard Determinism (fatalism) = the view that all human behaviour has a cause that can be identified & described; everything we think/do is controlled by internal/external forces we cannot control
• Topics for Hard Determinsim

  • Brain Sex Theory for Gender Dysphoria
  • Chromosomes & Hormones on Gender Development
  • Biological Explanations for OCD
  • Two-process Theory for Phobias
• Topics for Soft Determinsim

  • Social Learning Theory
  • Cognitive Approach
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Soft Determinism = human behvaiour has a cause but can also be determined by conscious choices
• Social Learning Theory (Soft Determinism)

  • Mediational Processes = control via motivation
  • Conditioning = no control
• Biological Determinism = the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
• Topics for Biological Determinism

  • Brain Sex Theory for Gender Dysphoria
  • Chromosomes & Hormones on Gender Development
  • Biological Explanations for OCD
• Environmental Determinism = the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
• Topics for Environmental Determinism

  • Two-process Theory for Phobias
  • Learning Theory for Attachment (Cupboard Love Theory)
• Psychic Determinism = the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts and childhood influences that we cannot control
• Topics for Psychic Determinism

  • Psychodynamic Explanation for Gender Dysphoria
  • Internal Working Model
  • Psychodynamic Explanation for Gender Development
  • Authoritarian Personality
• Scientific Emphasis on Causal Explanations

  • Finding a cause which can be explained by general laws
  • Allows scientists to predict and control future events
  • Adpots a determinist approach
• Features of a Science

  • Falsification
  • Objectivity
  • Empiricism
• Evaluation: Case for Free Will

  • Face validity = making choices daily gives us the impression of FW
  • People with internal LoC tend to be more mentally healthy
  • Roberts et al (2000) = adolecesnts with strong belief in fatalism at a higher risk of depression
• Evaluation: Case against Free Will

  • Libet (1985) and Soon et al (2000) = decision making activity occurs in brain up to 10 seconds before we are consciously aware
  • Lack of free will; actions determined by brain
• Evaluation: Case for Determinism

  • Consistent with aims of science
  • Human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws
  • Allows treatments, therapies and interventions
• Evaluation: Case against Determinism

  • Contribution to scientific racism
  • Eugenics = racial hierarchy based on innate inferiority of racial groups
  • Research into individual differences & abilities confirmed beliefs
  • Biological deterministic approach
• Evaluation: Case against Determinism

  • Not conistent with British legal system
  • Offenders held morally accountable
• Evaluation: Case against Determinism

  • Can be used to legitimise fixed gender differences and contribute to gender discrimination
• Evaluation: Interactionist Approach

  • Social Learning Theory/Soft determinism
  • Bandura = environmental factors are key to learning as well as mediational factors such as motivation